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Kyson at Priory
Early Years Kyson was born in the autumn of the year 863 KR, just eight years before humans were invited to study arcane magic at the Arcane Academy of Tor Gizad.< Each year the academy only accepted nine human students and it took nearly four years of study for them to complete their training, as such there weren't that many to be found within the Marches, let alone the Barony of Briarwood. As fate would have it, in 870 KR , a member of the Tethys Thornwalker, a bastard born to the House of Alba, passed the Test and was invited to study at the Academy. Word spread throughout the whole of the barony - many speculated that he would not be able to complete the training, oweing to his poor parentage. When Tethys had graduated, and was returning to the Barony, word spread up and down the Blackthorn River that there was a huge celebration to be held by the nobles. Baron Bardos, the wizard's half-brother, was seemingly overjoyed that his house would have a wizard. The entire barony was invited to attend and, with a lot of begging, Kyson was able to convince his family to travel to Thornhaven, the Baronial seat, since it was to be held on his eleventh Name-Day; 874 KR The river barges that travel up and down the Blackthorn River are a quick means of reaching Thornhaven from any village north of it. Kyson's family, his mother, father and two older brothers, boarded one of the cargo barges that had docked in Blackbriar the night before. They floated down the river along with dozens of others who were going to see the huge celebration being held by Lord Bardos and arrived by mid-afternoon. Kyson was in awe of the display of arcane magic that Tethys showed the people of the Barony. The night sky over the town was filled with showers of multi-colored sparks of light from Master Tethy's magic to celebrate the return of the Barony's first wizard as Kyson and hundreds of others watched. The Baron announced that old Prior Goddrick, the first Prior of Thornhaven, would step down and that Master Tethys would be the new Prior. Kyson and his family came to see the wizard display his tricks, but his parents also came to see the Priory where their son would be going next year. At eleven years old he could not enroll just yet by the start of fall the following year. Earlier that summer, a wizard was traveling down from the Barony of North Shield along the Blackthorn River and had taken shelter in their village. Kyson had impressed the wizard with his curiosity and knowledge but his parents didn't think much of it. They were surprised that the wizard, Jaryth of the House of Argen , had agreed to pay for the first year of the boy's education at the Priory in Thornhaven. He said that "such intelligence should be cultivated and grown to benefit the barony." Their journey to the town was not just as a present to Kyson but also to meet with Master Tethys and understand the details of his enrollment. The journey back to Blackbriar was long - a full day's walk up the River Road - and each step was filled, at least in Kyson's mind, with plans for how he would become a great wizard someday. Kyson's mother, Lynna , had purchased a pair of new pilgrim's journals from the Priory shop and his father, Jatham, gave him a leather satchel. His two older brothers, Ewan and Devon , who though not as academically minded as Kyson, each chipped in and bought him a new scribe's case with plenty of reed pens. Both of his parents knew that there was no way to stop Kyson in his plans to study arecane magic - and secretly they hoped that his success might mean a better life for the whole of them. Entrance Test A few months before Kyson's twelfth Name-Day, 785 KR , he was being escorted by his family down to the Priory at Thornhaven. The whole family had come to see him safely installed and pick up a few things that could not be had in their small village. Normally the tradition was not to allow students to enroll before their 12th year but since Kyson was born so late in autumn they made an exception so that he or his family would not have to make the journey in harsh weather. While his parents and brothers were off running errands in the town, Kyson was seated with the Prior for his entrance exam. The Prior, Tethys, was impressed at Kyson's entrance test. Normally the Priory will conduct a test of all its new students to evaluate how much they have learned and where they should start their formal education. Some may need remedial lessons with reading or writing and others might need further studies with simple math and the like. Kyson had a good basic education but what impressed Tethys was his display of arcane magic For nearly every year that Kyson could remember, the old wizard X would be in the village of Blackbriar to celebrate the Apple Moon Festival , he would put on a large display of arcane magic - fireworks for lack of a better word. He would allow children to come up to him during the festival and ask him to do some 'magic tricks'. Normally he would simply take a reed or a stick and grip the end and cast a low-grade light spell upon it essentially creating 'sparklers' for the children to play with. The light would only last for a quarter of an hour or so but it was enough for them to play with. He did this dozens of times. Each time he said the words in Medjia - Kyson made sure that he was close enough to overhear. Once Master Jaryth had offered to pay for the first year of his education, he spent most of his free time studying and practiced that word until he was able to repeat its effect without the uncomfortable 'sting' that most felt when trying to cast arcane magic. When Tethys asked if Kyson had anything he wished to add before the entrance test was completed, Kyson picked up a stick from the fire - just like the reeds used by the old wizard at the Apple Moon festival, and cast the minimized light spell. Tethys was quite impressed with Kyson's display and was curious how the boy was able to replicate the spell. Tethys assumed, having never really met the boy before - that Master Jaryth was simply wishing the boy to be educated and possibly become a servant of the Temple of Gizad or the Priory itself. He never knew that the boy had any arcane talent. When pressed for how he was able to cast the spell, Kyson explained that he had overheard the word from the 'Dabbler' and taught himself. Tethys was not so willing to accept the boy at his word and would see what he could do. To test him further, the Prior drew a candle closer to him on his desk and held his index finger up so that Kysons could see it. With a single word and a decisive flick of his finger as though he were pointing to the candle, a single, small flame grew upon the wick as though it were a seedling sprouting from the ground. The master wetted his finger-tips and snuffed out the fire and pushed the candle before Kyson and asked him to repeat the spell. It wasn't that Tethys mistrusted the boy - but he had to see him do what he claimed that he could do. Kyson had watched Tethy's movements and could easily remember the single word he spoke. It seemed like a simple enough spell. He looked at his own finger and wondered what motion had to do with the spell but he stared at the candle with the intensity he used to make the light appear on the paper-weight. Holding his hand out and over the candle he thought about how he felt the energy of the spell crawl up his legs, spine and out his arm to his hand. With the same, single word that Tethys used to plant the seed of fire within the candle's wick, Kyson engulfed the entire candle, its holder and a few papers on the master's desk in blue-white flames. The fire startled Kyson so badly that he let out a childish yelp. Tethys hopped out of his chair as the fire nearly singed his hair and started to laugh. Never, not even at the Academy of Tor Gizad, had he seen someone call so much energy so quickly. Clearly Kyson had potential but he would require subtantial training to control it. Master Tethys immediately accepted Kyson as a student within the Priory and informed his parents - who were waiting outside of his office after returning from their errands - that all remaining expenses, for the next several years, would be paid by the House of Alba for his education. Category:Fiction/Kyson Category:Fiction/875 KR